Improving Sprints

steve23

how do i improve my sprinting!!??

im an ok ish sprinter at the mo, but how can i get better!?

the only real "sprint training" i do is when im with a mate or on my own, and we sprint for a sign, tree etc etc

but what else can i do to improve my sprinting!!??

maybe start the sprint in a higher gear to improve strength and power!?

any advice would be great, thankyou!!!

ddraver

sprint between lamposts, and really go for it

recover for 9 lamposts, do it again

ifits tactics and stuff, i'm not sure tbh, don't want to give you bad advice!!!

steve23

thanks for that! no its not tactics at the moment anyway!

i just really want to get good at sprinting!!!

ddraver

I',m no expert but...more of it makes you better, its about getting the muscles to burn more of the right fueslat the right time

its what we used to do running (shudder) when i played rugby

its that High intensity interval training lark you need

steve23

thanks a lot for the advice!!!

im going to have to do some on my own then, and feel the pain!!!

nolf

Near where I live theres a nice quiet section of Dual carriageway and twice a week I do 3, 4 or 5 sprints in a row along it, theres a roundabout at each end and it's about 200 metres long, so I sprint up to one roundabout, recover on the way back, then sprint again, etc.

I've noticed that I have a got a bit faster, but more than that i've learnt more about what gears I can use in different conditions, and also I feel i've improvd my sprinting technique.

If you do this in the middle of rides then it gives you a warmup and warm down at each end.

binlinus

There's two parts to sprinting, as I see it.

1. There's the initial explosive jump where you have to accelerate away as hard as possible, either on your own or quickly onto the wheel of another rider; and then again off the wheel of that rider, around the side of them and to the line.

2. Then once you've jumped free you need to be able to sustain that all out effort to the line.

The first needs good muscular strength to accelerate away. Near the beginning of a ride after a very thorough warm up, up-shift, leap out of the saddle and pedal as hard and as fast as you possilbly can for 10 to 15 seconds. Recover for 5 or 10 minutes then repeat several times. Try them at different speeds from very slow near standing starts to high speed flying starts.

For the second you need good anaerobic endurance. To train this you need to do all out efforts of between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. Recover for 10 minutes and repeat several times. Obviously these hurt like hell. These are best done at high speed. Get up to about 40kph if you can on the flat, up shift and leap out of the saddle and sprint like hell.

I hope you suffer :twisted:

Bin

oldwelshman

In addition to the usual practise sprints, try climbing a steady climb, about 400 to 600m in haigest gear sat in saddle and rapeat a coupe of times.

nolf

Welshman do you know any climbs like that around here in S wales, preferably within 20 miles of Cardiff?

Top gear sounds a bit tough tho :S

Maybe with a big tailwind...

ddraver

that one up to castel coch (sp?!) on the taff traqil would do if may querstionable student memory serves me right


ahh how is miss cardiff.........London sucks

binlinus

Nolf, I don't don't know what part of Cardiff you live in but if its near the southwest side you could pop over to Penarth and climb from the Marina up to Penarth Head. But instead of turning a big gear all the way up like OldWelsman suggests you would be better off doing 15-20 secs as hard as you can in a big gear and then go easy for 15-20 secs. So 15 secs on then 15 secs off all the way up the hill. Alternatively you could try sprinting up the hill for about 90 secs to 2 mins. Don't eat before doing this

If you just turn a big gear for any period over 20 or 30 secs then you are not stressing your neuromuscular system enough to make much gain. It's this muscular power that will get you up to speed in that intial jump at the start of the sprint and then again for the line. Once you get over 20 or 30 seconds you are then aiming to stress your anaerobic system and it doesn't matter what gear you are using -- you just need to go all out as hard as you can for between 30 secs and 3 mins.

Bin

passout

Find a nice rural area and cycle through farm yards until a sheep dog goes for you. (Don't do this on steep climbs.) It's amazing how you sprint faster than you ever thought possiible! Cyle paths may offer a similar experience.

oldwelshman

nolf wrote:

Welshman do you know any climbs like that around here in S wales, preferably within 20 miles of Cardiff?

Top gear sounds a bit tough tho :S

Maybe with a big tailwind...

Nantgarw hill between nantgarw and Caerphilly is good for it.
Until you are used to it try the top part which is a very steady grade.
I used to ride up there on an 86 inch fixed gear after track racing at Maindee stadium :-)
I even went down it on fixed with no brake when I first got fixed, now that was fun of course breaking the law and I would not do that now
Caerphilly mountain is too steep for that training as it would be physically impossible to use largest gear and sit in saddle 8)

nolf

I'll check out ttrying it there= Friday I'll go on a fun ride wandering around Cardiff doing sprints

Another one I think might offer a good possibility is going North up Thornhill road, from where Heol Llanishen Fach joins it to the Cemetry just outisde Thornhill.

Not too steep, nice and gradual, and nice and near home so I can do it last with a short warm down.

Out of interest any of you guys actually thrown up after doing hard exercise?
Today I was proper killing myself doing 30+mph sprints into a wind and at the end of one I wretched really badly and had to stop. Luckily lunch was a distant memory and so nothing came up.

(That's what i like about cycling- the harder you try the more you are rewarded- going at 30mph on the flat is a nice experience- likewise when you push yourself to up a hill you get the joys of a decent!)

steve23

thanks for the tips guys, some good advice!